Sewing machine



Oct. 24, 1933. F s wo 1,931,917

SEWING MACHINE Filed June 28 1932 Miness inventor Patented Oct. 24, 1933 PATENT oFIoE SEWING MACHINE Fred Ashworth, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J.,

a corporation of New Jersey Application June 28,1932. Serial No. 619,680

I p 6 Claims.

Thepresent invention relates to sewing machines of the so-called McKay type, and more particularly to needle threading whirls contained in the tip portions of the horns of such machines.

Difliculty is often encountered in threading'the whirl'of a McKay sewing machine on account of its small size and because it'is shielded between a bearing portion of the horn and a tip cap having but a small needle aperture at the end of the horn.

The object of the present invention is to provide a novel whirl arrangement in-the horn of this, type of sewing machine, formed to facilitate and simplify proper engagement of the sewing 7 thread in the whirl and when the thread is thus engaged, to prevent displacement during sewing. With the above and other objects in view, the present invention contemplates the provision in a needle threading whirl having the usual needle hole and thread eye, of a thread transferring slot entering from the outside edge of the whirl into the thread eye. According to previous practice, whirls are provided with peripheral gear teeth for engagement with a driving gear member, and in the preferred form of the present invention, the whirl being similarly formed, the thread transferring slot enters the thread eye between two adjacent teeth of thewhirl. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the bearing for the whirl is slotted to register with the slot of the whirl in one position thereof, and the cap for protecting the moving parts from engagement with the work is also formed with a slot in alinement with that in the bearing, but arranged with I its needle aperture to prevent displacement of the thread from the whirl during operation, so that when the machine is stopped in the proper position, the threadmay be moved laterally into the thread eye without attempting blindly to thread the severed end in the whirl as heretofore.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of the end of a work supporting horn for use in a Mo- Kay type sewing machine embodying the present invention; Fig. 2 is a view in section taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a detail view on an enlarged scale of the improved needle threading whirl.

The horn illustrated in the drawing comprises a frame 10, the upper portion of which is formed with a bearing for a driving shaft 12, and. a bearing 14. at its tip for rotatably supporting a needle threading whirl 16. The upper end of the driving shaft 12 is provided with a bevel gear portion 18 meshing with corresponding gear teeth 20 formed about the outside edge of the whirl 16 to rotate the whirl in accordance with the movements of the other stitch forming devices. The parts at the tip of the horn are held in place and protected from engagement with the work by a cap 22 secured to the frame 10 by a screw 24. passing through the cap and threaded into the frame. The upper end of the cap is formed with a needle aperture 26 to permit the needle to enter the horn in receiving the thread from the whirl. The whirl 16 also has a needle hole 28 and a thread eye 30 to accommodate the needle passing through the needle aperture 26, and to guide the thread, indicated at 31, around the'needle, respectively.

In the embodiment of the invention shown, the Whirl 16 is provided with an axial slot 32 entering the needle eye 30 between two adjacent teeth 20. The bearing portion 14 of the tip of the horn frame is also slotted at 34, and the tip of the cap is likewise formed with a slot 36 entering al- 75 most but not quite into the needle aperture 26, the slots in the cap and the bearing being in alinement. By this arrangement, when the whirl 16 is stopped with its slot in the proper position, all of the slots'will register and a portion of thread may pass laterally through into the thread eye 30 without obstruction, as shown by the dot and dash lines in Fig. 2.' When thewhirl is moved from this position, the thread will be drawn inwardly to engage the needle, through a passage between the cap and the whirl formed in part by :the slot in the cap, and when the needle retracts with the thread, theend of the thread extending from the whirl will be drawn upwardly through the needle aperture 26, as shown in solid lines.

The thread will not become disengaged from the thread eye 30, because the aperture 26 is of sufliciently small size to prevent the thread from entering the slot 32, there being an appreciable tension maintained on the thread during the operation of the machine. The fact that the slots in the frame and the end cap are at the extreme tip of the horn, also aids in preventing disengagement of the thread from the whirl because the thread extends downwardly and at an angle away from the tip of the horn, so that there is a tendency forthe thread to be irawn away from the slot in the horn frame. The work supporting surface of the cap 22 about the aperture 26 remains substantially the same as in previous machines, so that no difiiculty arises through injuring or marring the supported surface of the'work.

Having described a particular embodiment of the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A Work supporting horn for shoe sewing machines of the McKay type having, in combination, a needle threading whirl rotatably mounted in the horn and formed with a needle hole and an eccentric thread eye, and a member for actuating the whirl by engagement with the outer edge thereof, said whirl having a slot extending from the outer edge into the thread eye to permit transfer of the thread laterally into the thread eye.

2. A work supporting horn for shoe sewing machines of the McKay type having, in combination, a needle threading whirl rotatably mounted in the horn and formed with a needle hole, an eccentric thread eye and gear teeth around the outer edge, and a rotary gear member arranged to engage the teeth for actuating the whirl, said whirl having a slot extending between two adjacent teeth from the outer edge of the whirl into the thread eye to permit transfer of the thread laterally into the thread eye.

3. A work supporting horn for shoe sewing machines of the McKay type having, in combination, a bearing in the tip portion of the horn, a needle threading whirl rotatably mounted in the bearing and formed with a needle hole, an eccentric thread eye, gear teeth around the outer edge and an axial slot extending between two adjacent teeth from the outer edge of the whirl into the thread eye, and a rotary gear member arranged to engage the teeth for actuating the whirl, said tip portion having slot extending from the outside of the horn into the bearing for the whirl in a position to register with the slot in the whirl in one position thereof to permit I transfer of the thread laterally into the thread eye. v

4. A work supporting horn for shoe sewing machines of the McKay type having, in combination, a bearing in the tip of the horn having an axial slot extending from the outside of the horn into ranged to engage the teeth for actuating the whirl, and a cap having a needle aperture portion for covering the whirl and for preventing displacement of the thread from the thread eye through said slots.

5. A work supporting horn for shoe sewing machines of the McKay type having, in combination, a bearing in the tip of the hornhaving an axial slot extending from the outside of the horn into the bearing, a needle threading whirl rotatably mounted in the bearing and formed with a needle hole, an eccentric thread eye, gear teeth around the outer edge and a slot extending from the outer edge of the whirl into the thread eye to register with the slot in the bearing in one position of the whirl, a rotary gear member arranged to engage the teeth for actuating the whirl, and a cap having a, needle aperture and a slot extending from the outside inwardly in alignment with the slot in the bearing to facilitate threading the thread eye, the slot in the cap terminating short of said aperture to prevent escape of the thread from the thread eye through the said slots.

6. A work supporting horn for shoe sewing machines of the M01 ay type having, in combination, a bee ing inthe tip of the horn having an axial slot extending from the outside of the horn into the bearing, a needle threading whirl rotatably mounted in the bearing and formed with a needle hole, an eccentric thread eye, gear teeth around the outer edge and a slot extending from the outer edge of the whirl into the thread eye to register with the slot in the bearing in one position of the whirl, a rotary gear member arranged to engage the teeth for actuating the whirl, a cap having a needle aperture and a slot extending from the outside inwardly in alinement with the slot in the bearing to facilitate threading the thread eye, the slot in the cap terminating short of the needle aperture to prevent escape or the thread rom the thread eye through said 'slots, and a thread passage provided between the cap and the whirl to permit the end of thread extending through the thread eye to be drawn through the needle aperture.

FRED ASHWORTH. 

